greenslime89

I was wondering, having rediscovered CDS, if anyone has the game and would like to play online. No one I know has the game so I can't play online. And to be honest I'm not keen on the "artificial intelligence" of the sqad. If you are confronted by a tank you don't immediately yell out "ARMOUR AHEAD" and promptly run infront of the guy wielding the anti tank gun as he's firing it? So anyway, I'm sick to death of the AI sqad getting killed by running infront of grenades, me when I'm firing and many other irritating things like blowing your cover in a stealth based mission. So anyway, thats why I'm asking if there's anyone out there with the game and would like to play online with me. If there is, please let me know what times you could be online.

Some cameras dont let you shoot JPEGs and RAWs together, but I think your camera can handle it. Your one will too. :D On a small side note: you'll need a RAW file converter to convert them into JPEG. Your camera should have been bundled with DDP. If you don't have that then you might want to try Pixmantec's fine RAW converter: Download link (Download.com)

It's a Canon EOS 400D you use? Go to the menu and then go to "Quality". There will now be various options, There are RAW options so select the one that says "RAW" not any of the others unless you want to have a RAW file and a processed JPEG of the same shot. This would fill up your card faster. Remember though, RAW files are larger than JPEGs so invest in bigger cards! Thanks, But what are the benefits of shooting in RAW? You can adjust levels, white balance, exposure compensation and many other things without losing detail. RAW resolution will be the maximum resolution of your camera.

It's a Canon EOS 400D you use? Go to the menu and then go to "Quality". There will now be various options, There are RAW options so select the one that says "RAW" not any of the others unless you want to have a RAW file and a processed JPEG of the same shot. This would fill up your card faster. Remember though, RAW files are larger than JPEGs so invest in bigger cards!

Forum Name: GreenSlime89 Age: 15 Location: Scotland Favorite subject: Landscape or Plants Equipment (Camera): Fujifilm finepix A330 and S7000. Canon EOS 20D Equipment (Lenses): Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 Mk II Other equipment: Hama Star42 Tripod, Circular polariser, red filter, ND and skylight 1A filters. Website/Gallery: Website Gallery Date you started photographing: Mid 2004 Best photo: Your Idol (best photographer): Ansel Adams Quote: "Skill in photography is acquired by practise and not by purchase." Percy W. Harris, photographic writer. Other: I've just written a guide to buying a D-SLR, so if you want to get into photography, you've no excuse! link

WARNING: This is a large guide and has a fair amount of jargon. If you read this and don't understand something, just drop me a line and I'll explain as best as I can. If you could give me some feed back on this guide, I would be very grateful. When considering buying a camera you have to take into consideration numerous expenses you normally wouldnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t have accounted for, not just the camera itself. These will be explained in the following paragraphs as well as how to choose the camera that is right for you. This guide is assuming that you are interested in a digital SLR. When drawing up a budget for your new camera you not only need to consider the cost of the camera but the cost of the media, software for editing your images and other accessories. So the first thing you do is find the camera you want, then look at the type of media it stores the photos on and what size the files are likely to be. When youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re thinking about what size of memory card to buy the size of photo created by your camera is very important. ThereÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s no point buying an all singing, all dancing camera when youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re only limited to shooting of 20 frames before having to empty your card. Ideally, you should get as big a card as you can but high capacity cards are very expensive and the cheaper cards are less reliable and slower than the expensive ones. Also, you should consider buying a few cards that make up the same memory as the size that you would like. For example, if you want a 4GB card, why not buy eight 512MB cards or four 1GB cards? If you have time to change the cards in between shooting it might be better to go for more, smaller capacity, cards. The reason for this is to protect your images. If you have just about filled your 4GB card with fantastic photos and your card crashes, you might lose the lot. If you had smaller cards, you might have filled three of your eight 512MB cards and one crashes, youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ve only lost a quarter of your images. Not something youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢d like but better than losing all of them. The next step is to think how many photos youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re likely to shoot over the course of a year. Think about that in memory terms. ThatÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s quite a lot, no? IÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ve found myself shooting over five thousand in less than a year. So youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll have to think about your computers memory now. You might think you have enough memory on your computer as it is, but if youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re keen, it will fill up quickly. The best solutions are to get either a new computer if youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re rich, this will help with the photo editing software (not just Adobe Photoshop ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ more on this later). However, not all of us have won the lottery so the most cost effective way to increase your memory is to buy an external hard drive. You can get about 320GB for around ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã150 in Britain, which is a lot cheaper than a new computer with far less memory. Printing. This is something I know very little about. I only print for competition and the restriction on many competitions is an eight by ten inch print size minimum. This means that itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s often cheaper just to have your photos printed at photo labs rather than at home. However, if youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re desperate to have your prints done at home, youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll have to think about what a good quality printer will cost, add on the consumables: ink and paper, and then consider if it is really worth the cost. Moving onto the processing side of photography. When you are going to buy your camera, you will often have bundled software. The RAW* file converters are usually pretty good. Canon gives their Digital Photo Professional away with every SLR, but I believe Nikon sell the full RAW converters separately, only giving you a demo version of the software. However, if you need a RAW conversion program but your camera wasnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t sold with one, you can download a free program that offers all the creative controls as the bundled software. PixmantecÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s RawShooter essentials is a great program so you shouldnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t worry too much about the bundled software when youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re buying your camera. However, you should think about getting a version of Adobe Photoshop. They are very expensive but the creative controls are great and you canÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t go far wrong with it. Photoshop CS2 is a fantastic program if you have the money, but if you can live without the extra controls of CS2, you can get by with Adobe Photoshop elements 5.0. This is far less to buy than CS2 and many of the tools in CS2 arenÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t depended on too heavily by photographers. However, if you want to use Photoshop for other purposes, such as signature making, I would suggest that you save up the big bucks for CS2. Remember, because youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re buying a D-SLR, youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll have to buy a lens. I recommend a 50mm prime (fixed focal length) lens. This is a great lens to start with. Partly because it develops your photographic eye as youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re trying to make things that seem ordinary seem extraordinary - because 50mm is similar to your own eyesight, focal length wise. Now what youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re really interested in, how to compare and chose between several cameras to find the one right for you. First, having considered all of the extra expenses discussed so far, make a realistic budget. Then compile a list of all the cameras within that budget. Now, comparing them is very specific to your needs. IÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢m going to look at camera bodies that cost ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã1000 or less at April 2007. These include the Nikon D200, D40, D40x and the D80. CanonÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s offerings include The EOS 400D and EOS 30D. SonyÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s first D-SLR the ÃÆýÃâñ100 is also included in this comparison. PentaxÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s K100D and K10D are part of this demonstration. OlympusÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s E400, SamsungÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s GX-1L and FujifilmÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s S5 Pro are included as well. A basic comparison table is drawn up below: You look at this table and you can compare them on cost and resolution, but you have your budget which all these cameras are in so disregard the cost. Looking at the resolution, think about what size you want your prints to go to. While 10MP is pretty popular, the difference between 10MP and 8MP is only noticeable under close inspection, however, 6MP cameras might struggle with prints around eight by ten inches so try to steer clear of these. So eliminate the 6MP cameras. You can now omit prices from your list if you like. The resolution is kept in to make some make the difference from two similar cameras if you have trouble choosing between a couple. Your list should look something like this: So now you want to find out more of the features of these cameras. I would now look at the shutter speed range. If youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re after some shots of fast moving subjects, you will want a fast shutter speed possibly to 1/8000 of a second , if you prefer long exposures, youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll be looking for the longest shutter speed to be about 30 seconds and have the option to have a mirror lockup bulb exposure mode. So you should refine your list further. Obviously, it is better to eliminate the cameras that are least versatile as you might like to broaden your techniques to use longer or faster shutter speeds and the cameras without a bulb exposure mode should be omitted from the next list. Also, as they are all within budget, you can afford to be choosy and remove the cameras with the most limited shutter range. That, I think youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll agree, has very quickly reduced thirteen cameras to just two. However, you should adjust this method to suit your needs, list the most important things in a camera for you in order of importance. Then work down that list as shown above until you get to two or three cameras. Now draw up a table like the one shown below, the second two columns are to see which features each cameras are better on. What IÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ve done here is constructed another table with the last two cameras from the shortlist and compared them, head to head. Obviously you can alter this to suit your needs and you might want to rank the specifications in order of importance to you. This could let you see which one is best for you. The above table is assuming that all of the specifications are weighted equally, which obviously they will not be. The two cameras are very similar and comparing them like this allows you to see the differences and how different they are. However, some of the features are personal choice. While more autofocus points are generally better than less, some people argue that the autofocus points clutter the viewfinder making composing your shot more difficult. So you might prefer to have fewer autofocus points. Another feature thatÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s debatable is the size of the camera. Most people find larger cameras have better handling and you might favour larger cameras however, they weigh more, making handholding at fairly slow shutter speeds slightly trickier. This is another matter of personal choice. In this example, the difference is negligible. Now that youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ve selected the camera you want, youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ll be interested in getting it for the least amount of money possible. Before going straight to the internet and buying it online, go to a photographic retailer and hold the camera, try taking a few photos. If the handling doesnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t impress you, consider the other cameras, particularly the one you eliminated before deciding on the camera youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re checking out. If that suits better, go for it! However, donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t rush into buying it. Ask how much they sell it for then go away and see where you can get it cheaper. Maybe as a kit (though some kit lenses leave a lot to be desired) to get you started. Always try out equipment in a shop and then go elsewhere ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ but make sure if youÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢re shopping online that itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s a retailer you can trust. I hope this guide helps you get started in the photographic world and I wish you all the best in your photography. Acknowledgements My thanks go to Practical Photography for the camera specifications and to http://www.warehouseexpress.com for the prices used in the comparisons. Useful Websites Adobe ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.adobe.com Canon ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.canon.co.uk Corel ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.corel.com Fujifilm ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.fujifilm.co.uk Nikon ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.nikon.co.uk Olympus ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.olympus.co.uk Pentax ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.pentax.co.uk Samsung ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://samsungcamera.co.uk Sony ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ http://www.sony.co.uk Foot note: *RAW files are files that have not been altered in anyway by the camera; they appear ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅflatÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

Would anyone be interested in me putting together a pack of all the photos in my gallery for manipulations? They would probably be about 1024 x 768. If anyone wanted something bigger it would have to be sent via e-mail. It would be in a WinRAR archive and uploaded to megaupload. A show of interest would be appriciated.

In my pockets I carry my phone, my wallet (containing an organ donor card - just incase!!), MP3 Player, house keys and a few memory cards. In my bum bag (Go on, mock me. I know you want to!) I carry filters, a spare battery pack a cleaning cloth and a rocket blower. Around my neck I carry my camera. Mind you, when I'm at school I don't take my camera so I've just got my phone, wallet MP3 Player and house keys.

Added 10 more photos. Enjoy!

My broken heel is the only broken bone I've had. I used to do gymnastics and I was doing handsprings over a vault - the coach standing at the vault to catch me if I messed up. She then moved the mat to another area, forgetting I was using it. I then started the run up... hit the springboard hands on the vault... "Oh, Ross, I'm so sorry!" I was then thinking about why she could have been sorry. Then, as I hit the wooden floor, I realised. I got a shooting pain up my leg to just above my knee and collapsed on the spot. I then was draggged to a bench where the coach checked my feet over. When my dad arrived to pick me up, she mentioned the accident but said that I seemed to be okay, just a little shaken. My dad took me to hospital and after a long, not to mention boring, wait, I was taken to x-ray and an hour or so later was told I had a broken heel. A woman plastered me up and sent me home with crutches. The next night, the plaster began to tighten, as it's supposed to. But the woman who put on the plaster hadn't taken account for that, so a call to NHS 24 and a trip to A & E saw the plaster cut open and a new one applied. After 2-3 months, the plaster was taken off and physio began. That was incredibly painful, I thought as the plaster was taken off, I could walk normally as I did before. So I jumped of the bed and as my feet hit the ground I had another terrible pain up in my heel and I realised it would take a little longer for it to be alot better. So I walked out of physio with two crutches but was told to put some weight on my bad foot. I was doing that and a little swine kicked my crutch as he rushed past to get into Argos and my foot was already heading to the ground and a similar pain to jumping down from the bed was felt, though not as pronounced. Still pretty bad though. I've never gone back to that club.

Yeah. I'm sure the ratio of owners to killers is something like that but, even one killer with a gun is too many. What I'm saying is that making guns legal gives people the opportunity to kill with ease. There always will be people who would go to the black market if guns were outlawed but I'd like to point out that the Virginnia Tech shooter bought his gun legally.

Don't make me say the statistics thing. Please don't. :P

I only hope you eat your kill. The thing is that you're killing them unneccessarily, for pleasure, where as you could eat the meat sitting on the shelves of your local supermarket. You don't need to kill them you enjoy it. Do you like taking away a life of an inoccent animal? You're killing them for pleasure, not to eat them, your primary aim was to make you happy. I don't think that the animal cares if it died nobley, it was killed. End of story. It doesn't matter how it is killed. Trust me. It still won't like it. Well it was out of curiosity as he had used defence as an argument and then said that he wouldn't use a gun in self defence. So if your family member was killed in a gun massacre similar to Dunblane or Virginnia Tech these wouldn't be people who want to kill a particular person, but just to kill. They wouldn't have found another way to kill so many so easily so they are less likely to carry it out. So in this hypothetical situation, you would have to think that if they hadn't had a gun they might not have killed your loved one. You're assuming that this hypothetical murder is premeditated, I was not.

You've yet to respond to the below sentence that I put in that post moments ago. I take it you wouldn't defend the legality of guns if a loved one was killed by gun violence? I'd like to see if you would say that if a member of your family (god forbid) gets killed by a maniac with a gun, you'd still say that guns should be a common item in day to day life. Guns are noisey but you can get silencers. I wasn't assuming they both knew of the attack but if you're up close to the victim and you don't kill them stealthily straight away, they will fight back or run. So using a gun would be better as it allows killing from a fair distance and you can shoot them in the back as they run. So you don't have your gun for defence. Which you used as an argument: So you don't want to use it for defence, you can buy food at the supermarket without the blood on your hands, so remind me, why do you have a gun?

I never said it was murder. I'm all for the war in Iraq. I'm just saying that if a sock is as easy to kill a man with as a gun is - why aren't they using socks? They'd be a hell of a lot cheaper. It's in the philosophy of murder, not fighting a war. It's a different situation. Okay. So here's a hypothetical scenario: You want to kill someone. For revenge. You look about your house for a weapon. Guns are legal. So you have your gun but you also have a knife. What are you going to pick to make murder easy? A gun or a kinfe? Obviously it would be a gun. You don't have to be right next to the victim for the kill. It's easier isn't it? If you don't have a gun you're gonna have to pick the knife. This would give your victim a fighting chance. Since there are risks involved with the knife you might reconsider. I'd like to see if you would say that if a member of your family (god forbid) gets killed by a maniac with a gun, you'd still say that guns should be a common item in day to day life. I'm repeating the above sentence as no one has said that they would still blindly defend guns.

I never said it was murder. I'm all for the war in Iraq. I'm just saying that if a sock is as easy to kill a man with as a gun is - why aren't they using socks? They'd be a hell of a lot cheaper.

Some people argue that computer games let people release their violence safely. The fact is that guns make killing easier. You can't deny that, can you? If you take away the guns wouldn't that make murder harder? I know that Britain has a gun ban. But it needs to be stronger. I think that guns should be demonised and not given to children as toys. I'm talking about the replica guns. If children see guns as what they are, killing machines, rather than what they are now, toys, perhaps they won't grow up thinking "guns are cool" and then attempt to get one. Illegaly or otherwise. Even guns that are legal can fall into the wrong hands. But if guns aren't legal then there would be fewer guns to fall into the wrong hands and cause more needless heartache. I'd like you to say that if a member of your family (god forbid) gets killed by a maniac with a gun, you'd still say that guns should be a common item in day to day life. By that I mean, you're going out so you do a quick check: "keys, wallet, mobile phone, gun". It shouldn't be like that. Would you really want everyone around you to carry a gun in the street? If they're only tools then they must be DANGEROUS because there are age restrictions on owning a gun. And to Barihawk who said that guns are no more weapons than a sock: If guns aren't weapons more than a sock, why aren't the army in Iraq killing Iraqi soldiers with socks? Guns are weapons, that can be used to kill animals for food perhaps but that doesn't make them any less able to kill another human in cold blood.

What? A gun isn't a weapon? That's shocking. That is what it's designed for, not for a game, not for chopping up food, not for wearing on your feet. It is designed to kill living things with ease. That statement is very, very wrong. :x

BBC News link I couldn't believe it when I heard the news. I hate hearing about death particularly needless, avoidable deaths caused by irrational gun crime. I think that something needs to be done about the gun crime in the world. Not just on a national scale. The whole world needs to co-operate to rid the world of illegal guns. In an ideal situation, we wouldn't need guns, people would not have the urge to shoot a fellow human being, invade another country. But we do. So we need to have guns to defend ourselves as a nation, agreed. But to defend ourselves as individuals? Why? If no one had guns, it would be a level playing field, we wouldn't have people feeling enpowered and able to kill another person with a squeeze of a trigger. Guns make it easier to kill people. It's undeniable. If you take away the means, its harder to do it. So it's logical to assume that taking away guns would reduce gun fatalities. Anyway, that's what this latest shooting brings to my mind. But I'd like to offer my condolences to the victim's family and friends. I'm only hoping that this kind of violence is going to stop soon.

The Photo of the Month competition! Copy and paste this form to vote, by ratings 1/10: [b]Unmanipulated:[/b] dark_shadow: navyplaya: Zargo_VI: woopidoo2: LP: [b]Manipulated:[/b] dark_shadow: woopidoo2: Zargo_VI: LP: _____________________________________________________________ January's Theme: Nature. an easy one, but lets start easy. February's Theme: Macro shots. Insects, plants, flowers, textures, etc. March's Theme: Animals! pets, birds, wildlife, (insects?), cattle, everything! April's Theme: None, a break. May's Theme: Unity. Make 4 or 9 photos into one. June's Theme: Motion: fast flowing water, bikes, animals. Anything that moves is fair game! July's Theme: Vacation Photos. Enter a photo you have taken during your holiday! August's Theme: Vacation Photos. Enter a photo you have taken during your holiday! September's Theme: In the Dark. Photos that are made in the dark are welcome. _____________________________________________________________ The Rules: :arrow: You may enter photos you have made earlier. :arrow: The photo you post must be below 900x900, :arrow: Do not use photos you havent made yourself, :arrow: We will vote the week before the next month. :arrow: You may edit the photo, you may get more votes if you make the photo even better then it was. (Like a border,name of the photo,manipulation,etc) :arrow: You may add 2 photos every month. _____________________________________________________________ Unmanipulated Photos : dark_shadow: navyplaya: Zargo_VI: woopidoo2: LP: _____________________________________________________________ Manipulated photos: (Do not use stock photos from websites!) dark_shadow: woopidoo2: Zargo_VI: LP: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Overall Statistics: (Unmanipulated) Updated 24 november 2007: Number 1: Zargo_VI with 18 Points Number 2: Woopidoo2 with 13 Points Number 2: Dark_Shadow with 8 Points Number 4: Navyplaya with 5 points Number 4: ThoseTheBrokes with 4 Points Number 6: DementedHero with 3 Points Number 6: Greenslime with 3 points Number 8: Dave0293 with 2 Points Number 9: LP with 1 Point Overall Statistics: (Manipulated) Number 1: Zargo_VI with 15 Points Number 2: Dark_Shadow with 9 Points Number 3: Pjb21 with 4 Points Number 4: DementedHero with 3 Points Number 4: woopidoo2 with 3 points Number 4: LP with 3 points Number 7: Navyplaya with 1 point. Good Luck, happy posting :) Competition Overall winner prizes Support userbars:

I'm afraid I won't be able to compete in this months competition - though it seems like the best theme yet. I've got all of my standard grade exams this month, and I'm unlikely to be able to take and edit photos because of studying. I'm on study leave just now and just popped on to see what was going on with this and it seems I've misled you with regards to this month's competition. I did say that it was likely to start again in June which, at the time I thought was the case. I'm sorry for any confusion that I've caused. Thank you Jelle for organising this month's theme so quickly. I'm just sorry I can't take part. Slightly off-topic: I've been writing a guide for buying a D-SLR and I've just the glossary to type up. It has tables for comparison so it can't be posted but if anyone would like it before the glossary goes in I'll be checking my e-mail still so a quick e-mail and I'll fire it out to you. It's pretty long though - 2000+ words. :shock: Way off-topic: I'm gonna be getting to meet Colin Prior and if anyone wants me to ask him anything and get back to you I'll try to ask him them and let you know what he said. If you don't know who Colin Prior is here's his website. He's an amazing photographer. I'm going to try my best to speak to him, he might not want to speak to individuals at a lecture.

I've entered a photography competition and one of the rules is that no manipulation is allowed. The only problem is that I shoot RAW files on my 20D and convert in DPP. This lets me boost saturation and apply filter effects without quality loss. If I don't convert them without boosting the levels and saturation it looks dull and flat. So do you think that RAW conversion counts as manipulation? I've sent a letter to the organisers but they haven't responded yet. So do you think it would be okay for shooting RAW for the competition or should I stop the RAW shooting until I hear otherwise?

You can participate if you make the theme, yes. A water theme sounds good but just now we've got alot of people studying for exams so just now probably wouldn't be a great time for POTM. POTM is likely to start in June. Photos being entered in the competition have to be taken that month, I'm afraid.

I didn't really think the quality loss would be too much of a problem as we're not gonna be making huge prints of them. I'll find some other programs that are better. I'll just take this opportunity to wish all entrants the best of luck in the forth coming May Photo Of The Month competition. I'm sorry that I'll be unable to take part due to my SQA exams taking place throughout May. Good luck everyone!

Photostitch is very good. I know that all Canon users should have that bundled with their camera. I'll try to find some software available for free that's good. And I think that DementedHero is the first person to win both the manipulated and the unmanipulated sections in one month. Congratulations! =D> EDIT: Here's one I made today made up of 3 images stitched together using the above program. Photostitch is a very simple program to use - three steps and you're done! EDIT #2: This might be better than photostitch. I've downloaded it but not tried it. It is virus free. If there are any viruses you can hold me personally responsible. I'll find a techy to check it though. EDIT #3: I've removed the link until I have had it checked and verified as virus free. EDIT #4: The download is verified as safe so the link is fixed and ready to use.